Her name is Rosie and she was a bookworm.
Growing up, she was captivated by stories of wars, crimes, and horror. She would spend hours in the library, drinking in the history of wars, the various crimes, and the stories of horror that terrified even the strongest men.
Soon, she finds herself talking to her books, because if they can tell her such wonderful stories, why don't she return the favor?
They never spoke back but she liked to think they're always listening.
She earns the nickname "The Booktalker". She liked it, but she never liked it when others used it. Other children would use the name to taunt her, to tease her, to laugh at her, and it makes her so angry.
Adults don't use it, but they look at her with fear and avoided her. Neighbors would whisper about the girl who talks to books and point at her like an animal.
It even caused her parents to avoid her. They look at her as though she was a stranger.
Rosie doesn't care. They wouldn't understand. Nobody understands. She continues talking to her beloved books.
Then one of the meanest kids in the neighborhood burns her favorite book right in front of her eyes, and as she cries and pounds her fists against the ground, he taunts her, telling her books can't talk, books can't be friends, and she snaps.
His body was found shortly after, all his fingers gone. Everyone was in a panic, the boy's parents were furious and want the culprit captured right away, and the children were terrified.
Nobody bothered to check under Rosie's bed. They figured a child can't be the culprit, no matter how strange they are. How wrong they are.
The murders continue. Men, women, and children were found dead, each missing at least one finger or more. The smell under Rosie's bed grows fouler.
Until one day... when Rosie walks out of an abandoned building, putting Cassie Evans's, a snobbish rich girl who ruined her books, finger in her bag, she sees a woman. The woman was wearing a white sundress, a white straw hat, and she was eight, feet, tall.
The woman makes a sound, "Po," and Rosie blacks out.
The town reports her as missing.
